Not everyone is familiar with the benefits that are available from the combination of prayer and meditation. If you have never attempted this, fear not. This technique is for anyone who wishes to listen to the inner self and connect with higher powers. All it takes is a willingness to relax your body and mind and unite your heart and soul.

The first step to enjoying prayer meditation is to pause for a moment and become perfectly still, totally alone with the pounding of your heart and the hum of your brain. This is where you will find a place for you alone, a place for your unique inner self. This is where you will be free from the roles you play to insure your survival, free from the demands of the people and the institutions that absorb your daily life. Whatever the issues you may desire to address, this is the place where you choose the warm feelings of love over the coldness of harm. This is where you create a partnership of equals between your head and heart, left and right, wants and needs, self and others.

To enter into a meditative state, find a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed. Start by sitting in a comfortable chair, eyes closed, spine straight, head effortlessly balanced on the shoulders, feet on the floor and palms upright on the lap. Focus on the pulsing of your heart until your mind quiets down and you have settled into a relaxed and yet focused state. Draw as many deep breaths as necessary to relax the mind and all the muscles of the body. With practice, you will be able to obtain a state of deep relaxation within seconds. The main objective is to become perfectly still and silence the mind. When we eliminate disruptions, we are able to go deep inside ourselves and attain pure introspection. Here, the guidance of Pure Love awaits us all.

"Picture a Pure White Light while listening to the words LIGHT-LOVE-ONE"

Silently chant the word "LIGHT" in time with each beat of your heart, doing so until you eliminate all other thoughts. Then, picture a brilliant and Pure White Light starting to glow from the inside of your mind. Gradually slowing the timing of the chant, switch your focus to the rhythm of your breath, using a single breath for each word. As you inhale, draw the Light into the physical mind. As you exhale, feel the Light spread throughout the body: your mind, torso, arms and legs. Concentrate on the visualization of this Light glowing and radiating throughout your entire being. The Light is representing all of the goodness, virtue, purity and perfection that exist in the universe.

Now, immersed in this Light, chant the word "LOVE" with the same rhythm that you obtained with the word "Light." Concentrate on a feeling of pure and selfless appreciation for all the love that you have ever known. Concentrate on growing your internal love for your physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual powers. This is where your brain enters into a deeply personal space that exists between resting and sleep. Pure Love's essence is unconditional Love; the joyful desiring of what is right and what is best for all. It is an absolute Love of infinite proportions that does no harm. Bask in the glory of Pure Love, allowing this beautiful and caring feeling to grow ever-more pervasive in your life, opening yourself up to its new and better solutions.

This partnership of Light and Love compounds the power of your human love, a love that wants what is right for the self, and stimulates the growth of your higher love, a universal Love that wants what is right for others. When you succeed in partnering Light and Love together in a partnership of equals, to the exclusion of all other thoughts, you are empowering your personal partners within.

You will feel an "energizing" or "tingling" sensation bristling throughout your being as your brain enters a meditative state. This energy will feel like it is coming from deep inside you as your left and right brain come together in a partnership of equals that wants what is best for both. You will also feel a profound sense of peace as the love and wisdom of the universe enters your world. Concentrate on the powers of your partners within for a few minutes. (You may want to slow the chant at this point, or stop altogether, resuming occasionally if start to lose focus on the energy of your partners within.

This is where you become "ONE" with the Highest Source of Pure Love, the Power of Pure Spirit. The love of your internal partners will merge with all of the other Love that exists throughout the universe. It starts as a desire to do the right thing for you and then intensifies into a passion to do what is right for others. It allows you to see your own life, analyze how you have lived and helps you to make creative new solutions that benefit yourself and all involved. The joyful merging of your internal partners, and the provocative insights of this journey, is the essence of a prayer meditation practice. The love released by your partners within is like a beacon calling to all of the other love that exists throughout the universe, linking you to new and better Instincts for your Body, Inspirations for your Mind, Enlightenment for your Heart and Intuition for your Soul.

This is where the dual powers of your left and right brain come together in a partnership of equals. This is where you release the creative dynamics of your dualistic nature. This is the power that helps you choose what is best for all of your partners within: your Logic and Emotions, your Reality and Dreams, your Inner and Outer self, your Human and Higher powers. Ultimately, this partnership of human and higher powers will fuse all of the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual energies of your being into a true partner within. It is here that you connect with the infinite energy of the universe that surrounds us all. It is here that you will find the simple new thoughts and feelings that help you go forward with your life. The key to success is simple: practice.

Mankind has long attempted to connect with a power greater than the self. Many pursue the classical religious virtues of humility, reason, integrity and charity. In addition to your cultural imperatives, you have to make a conscious choice to enter into this personal meditative state. It is like entering into a gap between the stimulus of your thoughts and your reaction to those thoughts. It is in this "gap of silence" where the whispers of the universe come to you through the opening of your Soul. It is like listening at a crack in the door that opens up to the power of the Cosmos. Even if you enter into this moment for only a few seconds, it is here that Pure Love will provide comfort for the Body, contentment for the Mind, warmth for the Heart and guidance for the Soul.

Excerpt from 'The Partners Within,' a book by Robert C. Felix © 1995-2003

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